The Impossibility of Entering the Kingdom of God

This past Sunday morning, our sermon text was Mark 10:17-31. There Jesus makes the astounding statement concerning the rich young ruler that it "would be easier for a camel to go through through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." (Mark 10:25)

We discussed that the interpretations sometimes put forward suggesting that the "eye of a needle" was a gate in Jerusalem that camels passed through with great difficulty is simply unfounded. No, Jesus used this colorful metaphor to speak of impossibility (which he clarifies in v. 27 by confirming "with man it is impossible"). Jesus is suggesting that from man's perspective, wealth, possessions, and riches keep a person out of the Kingdom of God. They make it impossible for him to enter in. Our sermon discussed why this is the case at great length (available for download here).

What I want to consider here is that, if your theology has great difficulty making sense of the "impossibility" of someone coming into the Kingdom of God, then your understanding of sin is vastly inferior. Given the general testimony of Scripture concerning the status of our fallen hearts after Adam, we should not be surprised at all to hear Jesus speaking of the impossibility of this person or that person entering the Kingdom. We should instead respond with a hearty, "Yes Lord. It is impossible for us. It is only possible if you intervene, change our hearts, and draw us to yourself."

Consider Romans 3:10b-18

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is pan open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.

The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

That is the testimony of Scripture concerning mankind. Or consider Genesis 6:5 "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Every intention! The thoughts of his heart. Only evil. Continually.

There is no room to wriggle here. The portrait of our fallen hearts in Scripture renders it, not only difficult, but absolutely impossible that any one of us would ever wake up one day and decide, on our own, to trust in Jesus for righteousness. To believe on him, to cling to his Gospel, to repent from our sins, these are all gifts of his grace and the effects of his causing us to be born-again (1 Peter 1:3).

So I'll say it again: if you read Mark 10:25 and shudder at Jesus saying about this man or that one, "It's impossible for your heart to come and enter the Kingdom," then it's time for a foundation adjustment of your theology.

Cowardice and Impotence

Cowardice and impotence. Guess who? None other than King David.

2 Samuel 13 - Here's the situation. David had two sons (among many others) Amnon and Absalom. The two were only half-brothers. Amnon was David's eldest son. Absalom had a full sister named Tamar.

Apparently Tamar was incredibly beautiful. She was a single virgin. Her half-brother, Amnon, grew in his affection for her. Over time, he began lusting after her and he wanted her more and more. Eventually, with the help of a friend, Amnon coerced Tamar into his bedroom and he raped her. Then, having raped her, he refused to marry her as the Law required.

Well this understandably tweaked Tamar's full brother Absalom. And 2 Samuel 13:21 says that it also upset the King. "When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry." But that's it. Nothing. Amnon went on doing his thing. Tamar was forced to live in desolation (v. 20) in Absalom's house. David did nothing. As the King of Israel, he did nothing. As the father of the family, he did nothing.

The result will be even more disastrous. Absalom is going to kill Amnon. Then Absalom is going to manipulate the kingdom from his father and anoint himself king over Israel. Then Absalom is going to try to kill King David! Bad, right?

For the reader of Samuel, this is very surprising. The David we have seen thus far has been a man of valor and courage. He would not tolerate a fearsome giant mocking God's people, so he slew him with a rock. He circumcised one hundred of his enemies to pay the bride-price for his wife. He killed the man who killed his enemy (that is, King Saul) because he said that Saul was the Lord's anointed one.

And suddenly, in his house, in his own family, a brother violates, rapes, and puts out his sister, shames her and ruins her life, and King David does nothing. Nothing! What in the world happened to David?

This is all happening in 2 Samuel 13. Did you look it up? Check out the preceding two chapters. 2 Samuel 11-12 is the horrible story of David seeing, lusting after, and sleeping with Bathsheba. Then he covers it up, tries to deceive, and ultimately murders her husband Uriah. He is confronted and punished in chapter 12. And in chapter 13, the great, mighty, and courageous King David is morally impotent.

How can he confront sin when he just committed such debauchery? How can he rebuke his son when he did far worse? You see? You see what sin does? Fathers, you see what sin does? Husbands? Friends? It destroys you in every way.

Wake up! Your life is not just about you. Your sin is not just about you. You live in a network of relationships. Your sin destroys and affects everyone in that network, that community. Most importantly, it leaves you impotent to be Christ to your loved ones when they need it most.

Are you standing at the edge of a great precipice? Are you strolling around on the roof of the palace, ready to at any minute to spot a naked beauty bathing in the sun? Close your eyes and run! "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." (Prov. 14:12) Don't take that road. Look to Christ and live!

God's Commands and Our (In)Ability

One of the objections that almost always arises in discussions about the absolute sinfulness of man has to to do with God's commands and our ability.

Some argue (like myself) that fallen man is completely unable and unwilling (is there a difference?) to serve, love, and choose God in Jesus Christ. You could call this the doctrine of Total Inability if you'd like. Sin has touched and corrupted every nook and cranny of every person born into this world. So being under the dominion of sin, no one chooses to love, follow, or obey God. Given the option between God's way and our own way, we will always choose our own (we could take the dicussion farther and say that sometimes our way appears to coincide with God's way, but in actuality it never does). Therefore, God must both enable and draw (on his own initiative) anyone who comes to him and believes on him for salvation.

Now here's the usual objection: if we, in our fallen state, are unable to actually obey God and his commands, it would be unjust for him to punish us for our disobedience. After all, what choice did we have? Therefore, (they reason) because God has given us commands, and because God is just in punishing us for breaking those commands, we must be fully able to either obey or disobey. God wouldn't command something that he knew we wouldn't or couldn't obey in our fallen, sin-hardened state.

Here's the biggest problem with that objection:

John 15:4 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

And John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

As verses 1, 2, 6, 8, and 10 make clear, "bearing fruit" is obedience to God's commands and desire. Jesus acknowledges, and even demands, that apart from being united to him by faith (as a branch is united to the vine), we cannot bear fruit for God. So the objection falls. Yes, God will punish our disobedience (and he will do it in complete justice). And yes, in our natural fallen state, we are unable because of the hardness of our hearts to obey his commands. (He must cause us to be born again before our hearts will begin to choose him and follow him as he desires.)

That doesn't make God unjust. It just makes God's grace all the more spectacular.

We are incredibly desperate. We are lost in our sins unless God, completely in his free grace, comes to us, counts Jesus' wrath-statisfying death as ours, counts Jesus' God-pleasing righteousness as ours, and fills us with his Holy Spirit to enable us to truly begin to give up our sins and obey and follow his commands. Then we begin to bear fruit for God. And you see, wonderfully even then our fruit is really still only because of his grace.

Therefore Jude says: "To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (v. 25)

The Deep Waters of Our Heart

Proverbs 20:5 "The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out."

Reading books on biblical counseling has had a profound impact on my life (not to mention my ministry). One of the greatest truths that people like Tripp and Powlison have caused me to understand is that all of my behavioral sin flows out of a rebellious heart.

Sin in my life doesn't just come out of nowhere. When I do sin (which I do quite often), it's because I am a sinner. Sinful behavior comes from a sinful heart. I can use the sins I commit as a window into my rebellious heart.

So, I'm trying to be more introspective. I'm trying to stop and think, "Okay Ryan, why did messing up a piece of pizza that you just cooked make you so mad? What does that behavior say about what's going on in your heart."

That's all fine and dandy. Here's the problem: I've figured out, my heart is like a complex tapestry of motivations, intentions, hopes, hates, loves, etc. Wow! It's really hard to say, "This motivation in my heart drove me to commit this sinful deed."

Just recently as I was trying to make a decision, I sat down and tried to examine my heart to make sure that my decision was being driven by Christ-like desires and not fleshly ones. But as it turns out, each time I listed a desire of my heart, I could then break that desire down and list motives and desires that were driving that original desire (which was driving my decision). And each one of those needed to be weighed and considered biblically.

I say again, "Wow!" Our hearts are really complex. And unfortunately, the sin in our hearts has penetrated deep. I mean, really deep. That's what Reformed Christians mean by saying we are "totally depraved". It doesn't mean we are as bad as we possibly could be. It just means that sin has corrupted every single thing about us. There isn't a piece of our hearts that wasn't affected by our sin. Praise God, when he saves us by his grace, he gives us the power (through the Holy Spirit living within) to put that sin and rebellion to death. But, that sin is still there. That sin still permeates and penetrates the deepest recesses of our hearts.   O how we need the sin-defeating sin-conquering Gospel every second of every day!

"The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out." (Prov. 20:5) Deep water in deed.

PRAYER:
"Lord, grant us understanding to see our hearts, to understand our hearts, to draw out the sinful desires, affections, and motives in our hearts, and to put those to death by your Holy Spirit. Amen."